Light and Dark
by crazykitty476
Summary: There's been some strange mixes before, but never has there been one like Anko. She's a hybrid half-dragon: half human, a quarter light dragon and a quarter darkness dragon. What happens when she's saved from her hellish life by noneother than Hiei?
1. The Meaning of Freedom

There's a form of barbaric entertainment that has existed for many years in the Makai.

Dragon baiting, similar to the sport some humans find in dog fighting. The most aggressive and wildest dragons are taken from their natural homes and crossed with humans kidnapped from the human realm, creating a unique hybrid creature with the ferocity of the dragons yet the intelligence of a human.

While these hybridizations create unique killing machines found only in the fighting pit, they also create a new creature with the emotions of a human, yet the bloodlust of a dragon. Some fight against their inborn desires to kill, and lose their minds in the process. Others purposely try to loose their fights so they can escape and die in peace.

Among these hybrids, some are called 'Mercy's Angels'. They are the ones who have tried to die, but could not. Tried to stop, but could not. So they free their friends and families from the fate that is the arena. And they keep fighting to stay alive.

Ask every one of the 'Angels' if they hate their job, and they will not answer. It is because the dragon half of their souls enjoy the slaughter; enjoy the taking of life. Ask them if they want to die, and they will say they wait for another angel to free them. This is their lot in the sick game of life, and they can't help but go along with the flow of life.

There is one 'Angel' who is still waiting. Waiting for the one to help her escape before she can't help herself anymore. Anko, the Twilight Dragoness, still waits for someone to completely extinguish the flicker of a flame she calls her life.

......ooo......

'I don't know where my soul is...' Anko stirred briefly in her sleep. '_I don't know where my home is...'_

Anko stirred briefly in her sleep. ' 

She was small for a hybrid, maybe only about 4'6" or 4'7". She got her nickname 'Twilight' from her father, which was a dragon Drake of some unique lineage. His parents had been a Darkness Dragon and a Light Dragon. Definetly not a flavor that would occur in nature naturally. Her mother had been a simple human woman, whom had died shortly after Anko's birth.

As a result, in her human shape she had black hair with a single white-blonde streak that went just past her shoulders, the single streak was in her bangs. Her skin was pale and slightly photo-sensitive, and she had the kanji for twilight branded in gold under her right eye.

Her left eye was a golden yellow, and the right was dark red (like Hiei's, that way you have some reference.). For the few that had seen her bare back, they knew she had what looked like bat wings tattoo'ed onto her upper back. Between the two wings was other information branded into her, like her ID number and her current owner.

That was the shape she was in now.

Anko slowly woke up as day turned into night. Not that she could see the day from the underground holding pen she was in. Fights were always held at night and underground, so her sleeping patterns followed accordingly.

The pens were relatively gross, with mold growing on the stone walls and the empty smell of decay lingering in the air. Torches were spread out along the walls every dozen or so feet in the halls connecting the small holding cells, which were barely big enough for their occupants. The pens didn't have doors, but rather transparent barriers that held the half-drags at bay.

Barriers hurt if you touched them, so it was an effective method of controlling the hybrids so they didn't get too rowdy in their pens.

Anko sat up and streched, before staring out at the dim hall. Her dragon eyes were easily accustomed to the darkness the hybrids spent the majority of their time in.

She stood up and walked over to the barrier, looking as far down the hall as she could. One of the guards was near-by, getting ready to pull all of the hybrids for that night's "games".

"Hey!" Anko called out to the demon. He had green skin and blood red eyes, along with big teeth. He obviously wasn't hired for intelligence, but for muscle. "Have the match-ups been settled?"

The demon blinked at her for a minute. "Yea, tonights participants have been drawn up. You'll be fightin' too, Twilight! Against Red Fang, no less. Supposed to be a good match up!"

i>Red... Why does it have to be him? /i> Anko thought bitterly. Like her, he was one of the 'Mercy Angels' that the others hybrids relied on to get free. They had shared a pen together once, and they had actually been good friends. He'd been a red dragon, but that hadn't been the reason his nick name was 'Red Fang'.

After a few moments, they walked her opponent down past her pen. He was tall and muscular, with dark red hair and a dark black eye. His other eye, the left one, had been sealed shut with a scar that started in the middle of his forehead and ran down in a thick line to his cheek. That happened during a fight a few years ago, making him blind on that side.

"Hideki." Anko stated simply, not looking at him. He was older than her by a few years, and had treated her like a younger sister.

"Anko." Was his reply. He looked at her and tried to smile, but it was never easy to face someone you knew in the pit. Never.

They dragged him off to the arena and came back for Anko shortly after.

"Can we do this easy for once, Twilight?" Her 'owner' was there, a slender human with short black hair and emerald green eyes. He was probably one of the few humans that participated in these little 'events', mostly because there was heavy betting involved. From what Anko had heard, she'd been expensive and had earned quite a bit of money, which was why he had held onto her for so long.

"C'mon, Kazu. You know I like a little exercise before a match." Anko replied sarcastically as she backed up to the wall on the far side of her pen. It was darkest there, and her single red eye glowed in anticipation.

Kazu sighed as he motioned the handlers into her pen. Anko smirked as the two demons were engulfed in a black flame. Their piteous screams filled the air as they fell back out, black fire consuming their bodies.

Anko's red eye glowed more brightly. Kazu may not have been able to see what she had done, but he knew that she had set them on fire by only touching them with her right hand.

"Not tonight, Anko. Don't make me-"

"Don't make you what, Kazu? Send me to fight Hideki?! You know that we are friends, yet you agreed to the match!" Anko's voice had gone hoarse.

Kazu was getting angry as he motioned another group of demons into her pen, this time armed with rods similar to cattle prods, but much more dangerous and higher voltage.

There was some low growling as Anko's red eye deepened its hue. There was a snarl and some screaming as another demon tore out of the pen, covered in black fire. A brief flash in the pen showed that the other demon had pressed the prod into Anko's side and let off a spark.

She roared for a second and tried to attack the demon with the prod, but before she could she was grabbed from behind by two other sets of hands.

Anko let out a frustrated growl as they dragged her out of the pen. She snapped at Kazu on her way out, only to be smacked in the back of the head.

"Save it for the fight!" The demon behind her said as she turned with a dangerous glare on her face. She hissed a warning at him but kept walking down the hall, past the numerous other pens with hybrids in them. They all watched in silence as she passed, not one saying a word.

The arena was underground also, but it was more modernized. It had flourescent lighting that lightened the place up considerably so that all of the spectators could easily see, whether they were human or demon.

The arena itself was a large pit in the center of the underground cavern. The top was actually a dome of transparent spirit energy, which acted like another barrier similar to the ones that kept the hybrids contained.

The demons led Anko to the drop box that would let her into the pit and kicked her into the temporary hole.

She looked up as they slid the lid to the hole in place and instead looked into the pit. Across from her, she could see Hideki staring at her, a look of saddness on his face. Anko's face was empty as she watched him.

Hideki grinned suddenly and nodded, understanding Anko's silent message.

One of us is free tonight.

The talking that had been a low roar in the background hushed as the spectators waited to hear the buzzer that would let Anko and Hideki into the pit.

The pit was a combination of hard-packed dirt and a layer of sand. The walls were stone and had many scars from where hybrids missed the other and clawed the walls instead. There were places where Anko knew that another had been slammed up against the wall, and where some made a futile attempt to escape.

The buzzer sounded, and Anko was released into the main area of the pit along with Hideki. The two walked cautiously out into the pit and watched one another.

"So you fought again?" Hideki murmured as the two of them stalked to the center of the sandy pit.

"Of course." Anko muttered. "I never wanted to meet you in the pit for any reason..."

"You say that to all the hybrids. I do too. All of the 'Angels' say that." Hideaki continued. He was right, all of the 'Angels' said that. This was because all of the 'Angels' always earned a kill in their fights, freeing the ones they fought by death.

The only way to earn the title of 'Angel' from the other hybrids was to either kill an 'Angel' during a fight and there-by freeing them, or to kill atleast thirty or more of the hybrids.

Recently, the fights were between 'Angels'. This was because the demons were trying to thin out the ranks of the 'Angels', and preserve only the strongest for the purposes of breeding them with the other hybrids.

This was why the 'Angels' fought the most harshly against eachother, in the off chance that they could free eachother by inflicting mortal wounds on one another.

None of them wanted to bring any of their children into a violent and awful lifestyle like theirs'.

"I'll free you tonight, Anko of the Twilight." Hideki growled as he started to circle Anko. His one good good eye changed into a deep, red color with a slit pupil.

"Or, maybe, I'll free you, Hideki of the Red Fangs." Anko replied in a low and dangerous voice. She started to circle aswell, as was common practice during fights.

"Do you want to warm-up first, or get straight to the point?" Hideki whispered, still circling.

The crowd was cheering for blood, eager for the two to start the fight. All that mattered to Anko and Hideki, however, was the hybrid that stood infront of them.

"What are the odds for the fight?" Anko asked as she slowly tightened the circle. Her red eye was burning with eagerness.

"400 to 1, in my favor." Hideki growled. His nails were starting to darken into a shiny black color, forming the talons his dragon body had as he started to shift to _that_ form. His more dangerous form.

"I see." Anko whispered as she stopped, Hideki stopping with her. Anko wasn't bothering to shift yet. "They think that my height, weight, and gender will affect this match." Anko looked very thoughtful as she wondered what to do.

Here was the perfect oppertunity to throw the fight and become free.

"But what of Hideki?" She thought aloud. Anko decided to fight, and to try to free him instead of taking the easy way out.

Hideki snarled as his body started to completely shift into its dragon form.

His dragon body was large and muscular, with a very blunt and stocky head. His long neck and tail were coiled springs of strong, nearly perfect muscles. His front and hind legs were like steel pistons, while his claws and coal black teeth were sharper than any blade. His thick flesh scales were a deep, fire red color while his belly scales were a glossy black.

His head was a complicated mass of jutting head spikes, while his main set of horns were positioned behind his his eyes sweeping backwards. That pair of horns was larger than most drakes his age, extending more than a foot and a half away from his skull. They looked like polished obsidian, shining in the flourescent lighting of the arena.

Halfway through his transformation, Hideki fell forward, unable to stand upright but instead having to walk on all fours, like a true dargon.

He hissed aggressively at Anko, calling to that part that she fought to control most of the time. But now was not the time to try to keep it in check, so she just let it go and succumbed to the dark side of her concious.

Anko watched Hideki as she chuckled darkly. The pink scar that sealed his left eye looked strangely alien in the sea of dark red scales and the glossy black of his horns that made his face.

"Skipping the warm-up?" Anko said softly as she turned a hard glare his way. "If that's what you want, Hideki."

Anko's golden mark glowed suddenly with its own inner light as wings sprouted from her back.

The wing bones themselves were covered with dull black scales, while the membrane between the flight bones was a pale, light yellow.

Anko wrapped her two wings around herself and hid her transformation from the eyes of the ones who watched the fight.

Her wings opened to reveal a dull black dragoness, standing atleast six feet at her shoulder. Unlike Hideki, she had a long mane trailing down her serpentine neck. The mane was a blonde that could nearly be called white.

Her belly scales were a rich golden color that gleamed against the dark black of the other scales. Her face, although now dragonic in appearance, was long and slender, with the golden kanji for twilight under her red eye, opposite her golden-yellow one.

Anko's horns were slightly shorter than Hideki's, only about 10 or 11 inches long, but they were an ivory gold that seemed to glow with its own inner light. The dorsal spines that started inbetween her horns and trailed down to the tip of her tail were a similar shade of golden ivory. They got longer as they neared the center of her back, but shortened as they trailed down past the mid point.

The spines, just like her teeth and claws, were incredibly sharp.

She had one thing that Hideki lacked, and they were wings. As a result, she was very light and slender, allowing for easier flight. She excelled at speed, movement and endurance, but lacked the power most wingless dragons had. She was also a little fragile.

Hideki had the overall advantage, sacrificing speed for monstrous power and the ability to take damage. He was also much taller than Anko, standing at 10 feet at the shoulder compared to Anko's 6. His build was also much better than Anko's for this type of close-quarters fight.

Anko hissed at the larger drake, her mis-matched eyes reflecting fierce intensity and determination. Hideki roared in response, his one red eye glaring as he charged for Anko in a furious dash.

Anko glared and dodged to the side, kicking up sand as she moved out of the way of Hideki's charge. The sand prevented him from stopping completely and he instead charged into the wall.

Anko used her wings to turn her around, ready to take advantage of Hideki should he have been slowed by the impact of the wall. Instead, she saw that he had anticipated her dodge and compensated for it, throwing the side of his body into the wall for a quick recovery and already dashing at Anko.

Before Hideki could manage to get a claw in her, she used her wings to propel her farther away from the menacing drake that was attacking her. Hideki tried to keep up, but she was much quicker than he was and more easily manueverable.

Anko took her chance and darted into his blind spot, confusing him as he searched for the dragoness that had just been infront of him. She launched herself onto his back, digging all of her talons into his shoulders and back to anchor herself as she wrapped her head around his neck, trying to rip the front of his neck out with her sharp teeth.

Hideki snarled in anger and caught Anko on his back, digging a muscled claw into her shoulder before ripping her completely off of his back and throwing her against the stone wall of the pit.

Anko let out a pained shriek as she collided with the stone, the jolt of being slammed against hard stone vibrating throughout her body. Her head made a sickening crack sound as it collided with the wall before she dropped to the sandy floor of the pit.

Blood dripped in a steady flow from Anko's mane and from a cut on her head, caused from the impact of the wall. More blood poured down her shoulder, from the deep cuts Hideki had put there when he ripped her from his back. It leaked from her wounds and down into the sand, where it congealed because of the sand and grew black.

Hideki was in a healthier position than Anko, but he had also suffered some damage. Her talons had cut into the flesh of his back, but not as deeply as he had cut into her shoulder. His neck was also a little scratched from when she had tried to bite past his thick belly scales and into his neck, trying to rip the jugular vein free.

"Are you..." He panted slightly, glaring with his solid red eye. "Trying to steal my name-sake, Twilight?"

Anko smirked as much as she could in the dragon body she was in. "Maybe." She replied, shaking off the shock she had experienced. "Ready when you are."

Hideki didn't wait for another prompt as he suddenly charged at Anko. She looked from side to side quickly, but this close to a wall she would never be able to escape Hideki's charge. She instead braced as he charged headlong into her, their skulls and horns colliding.

Anko shuddered again as the shock of the impact made her body numb. However, she remained braced against Hideki, but he was straining against her and trying to crush her against the wall. Anko hissed as her red eye glowed with anger, her right claw swinging up on its own glowing with dark black fire.

She clawed Hideki with that claw, just missing his eye as she cut his face wide open on that side. It was Hideki's turn to shriek as he ripped his head away. It wasn't that the fire burned him, that would be impossible since he was a red drake and thus immune to fire and heat, but that he hadn't expected Anko to strike at him from that range.

He took a few steps back, and even reared on his hanuches, his nose just brushing the top of the dome as he roared his pain. Anko took this chance as she dashed forward, driving her claws and tallons into his chest, using the chink of the belly scales to tear more easily into the chest cavity beneath his belly scales. Within seconds, she had gotten past his ribs and had found his heart, clawing it beyond repair. She started pulling back when he started to fall back after loosing his balance.

Anko changed back into her human state moments before he hit the ground, shaking the pit with his immense bulk as he laid on his side.

Her shoulder was bleeding harshly, aswell as the cut on her head. Her body was also sore. Anko's arms were coated with Hideki's blood, and her face was splattered with it as she slowly walked over to her old friend. He was stuck in his dragon shape, unable to muster up the energy to shift back to his human form.

"Hideki." Anko said softly as she approached.

Hideki's red eye rolled to look up at her, blood starting to ooze out of his mouth and onto the ground beneath him.

"An.. Anko." Hideki replied. He tried to sit up, but he couldn't.

"I'm sorry, Hideki." She slowly sat down next to him, slowly stroking his head. His scales felt cold against her skin.

"Don't be." He murmured. His voice was deeper in dragon form. "You freed me. I am grateful for that."

"I'm glad, then. No regrets?"

He smiled as his eyes glazed over. "None. Will you be alright here?"

"I'll be fine. Don't wait for me where ever the hell we 'Angels' go." Anko said quietly, stroking his head again.

"Alight, I won't. Just don't go yet, ok?" He said softly. Anko knew his torn heart was bound to give out soon.

"Okay, Hideki. I'm staying." She moved his head into her lap, gently lulling him into sleep despite the pain in his chest.

After a few seconds his eyes slid shut and his breathing slowing down. "Goodbye, Hideki." A few seconds later, and his breathing completely stopped.

There was some cheering from the crowd that had watched, but it was mostly groans from the people that had lost their bets and bet on Hideki.

There was an explosion shortly after that, causing Anko to look up through the dome. There was some incoherent shouting about an attack as the dome suddenly gave out and some patrons fell into the arena with her.

They stared at Anko, panic stricken as she gently rocked Hideki's head. She glared at them with such burning hatred that it literally set her blood on fire, which they had landed in when they fell into the pit. They screamed in pain as they also fell victim to her burning hate for them, consumed by the flames of darkness.

"Stop trying to piss me off!" She heard a teenager shout as the underground room shook with an unknown impact. "Damn it! This is the most boring mission Koenma's sent us out on yet!"

"I know whatcha mean, Urameshi. Breaking up a fight ring isn't exactly what I had in mind on a saturday night." A dumber voice replied.

"Will you bakas just shut up and finish? I want to be done with this as soon as possible." A colder voice said. His voice seemed ro be more familiar to Anko than the other two.

"They were cheering before we managed to get in." A more intelligent voice said as it walked closer to the pit. "I think we arrived too late to stop some of the fights."

Anko glanced up and stared emotionlessly at a long red haired boy as he peered into the pit. He let out a low, startled gasp as he caught sight of her, cradling Hideki's head in her lap.

"What's wrong, Kurama?" The teenage voice asked as he neared the edge of the pit, only to shout suddenly in surprise.

The majority of the pit was sprayed with blood, with Anko sitting in the middle of it next to a dead dragon male of considerable size.

"I think..." Kurama began as he stared into Anko's dead eyes. "I think this is much worse than Koenma thought."

"What the hell happened down there?!" The teenager with slicked-back hair shouted as he stared down at Anko with surprise. "Shit, man!"

"Man, thats a lot of blood." The dumber one said as he stepped up next to the teenager. He had orange hair and a weird face. He shivered when Anko looked at him. "She feels dangerous." Her murmured as he rubbed his arms, trying to get rid of the goose bumps that had sprouted up on his skin.

"Hn." The colder voice was the last one to join them by the side of the pit, staring down at Anko. His red eyes matched her left eye, and instantly she could smell the flames of darkness on him.

Her nose flared and her eyes widened as she stared at him in confusion. She could feel his power better than any of the others, and the darkness part of her was roaring, wanting to challenge this one because he scented of power that surpassed her own.

At the same time, she knew that if he asked anything of her, she would do it if he offered alittle bit of that power to her. But, what was to stop her from taking it all if he offered it to her?

On the same token, the light was also roaring, trying to convince her that this dark thing was not to be trusted in the least, and that she should get away as soon as she could.

"What the hell went on in here, Kurama?!" The teenager repeated.

"Dragon fighting, using hybrids. They're easier to manage than an actual dragon and are often better for fights anyways." He said softly as he watched her. There was pity in his gaze. "That girl down there is probably a hybrid dragon, and the winner of the fight we were too late to stop."

Anko looked down again, at Hideki's peaceful face.

......End of Chapter 1......


	2. Burning Repentance

DISCLAIMER: I b do not /b own Yu Yu or Hiei, although I wish I did . I b DO /b own all characters that I have created, so don't use them. Cheers!

RECAP: Anko just fought Hideki in a death match and won, sending her companion to spirit world. Just as Anko started to mourn the loss of Hideki, the spirit detectives arrived on the scene. They made quick work of the evil humans and demons and have now come upon Anko. What's in store for her now?

....... ooo .......

Anko continued to sit silently as she continued to stroke Hideki's head. She kept willing him to jerk awake and say it had all been a game, that he had feigned his death to trick the spectators that had been watching.

She knew that she was only fooling herself, and his lack of aura confirmed he was well and truely dead.

"Well... what should we do with her? She looks pretty out of it. Maybe we could bring her back to spirit world or something." The teenager said after a minute of watching Anko.

"Good luck trying to reason with it." The dumb one said, still rubbing his arms to get rid of the goose-bumps. "That thing is major bad news."

Anko looked up at them, her hand unconciously covering Hideki's eye, as if it would open again. She was waiting for something. Waiting for what? Waiting for her sentence.

"Hn. The baka is right for once." The short demon said after a moment. "Hybrids like that one are to be killed on sight. They have no place in either worlds, be they demon or human alike."

Anko went very still, her dragonic pupils dilating to their fullest extent so that the pupils were hair thin slits in her eyes.

"What?" The teenager said, staring at the demon. His fists were clentched and resting over the edge of the pit, so Anko could see his white knuckles. He was angry for some reason.

"Hiei is right, Yusuke." Kurama said, looking away from Anko when she locked eyes with him. It was like he couldn't meet her gaze. "Half dragons cannot function in a normal environment. They were bred specifically to fight, and as a result are naturally aggressive and blood thirsty. In other words, half dragons live solely for the kill."

"So what are we supposed to do?! Just kill her while she stares up at us after fighting for these sick freaks?!" Yusuke shouted. "She just fought for her life, so now we're going to kill her?!"

"There is no other option for her. It would be kinder to finish her now than to prolong her life only to have her executed later." Kurama continued, trying to reason with Yusuke.

"Kurama's right, Urameshi. If we brought her back with us, they'd only kill her. Who knows how many times she had to kill before we came along." Kuwabara added, trying to help.

"I just don't see," Yusuke said, his voice wavering with anger. "How killing someone thats tried so hard to live is going to help it."

"Think of it like putting a really mean dog down, Urameshi. That's kinda how its like." Trust Kuwabara to come up with the worst possible analogy.

"But she _isn't_ a dog, moron!" Yusuke replied. "She's a living, breathing, human down there! How can you justify murdering her?!"

"She lost the half that is her humanity long ago." Hiei said quietly, staring at her. He was the only one that would meet her gaze. "All that's probably left is the dragon's desire to kill and consume. Hn, I'm surprised she hasn't already started eating that drake's body."

Anko twitched. It was true that some of the matches, called the bait matches, starved the hybrids so that they would slowly eat eachother alive. How dare he compare her to one of those weaker, lower classed drakes that fell so easily to the simple desires of the body.

She had faced a few bait matches when she was younger, but she never touched the meat of the other dragon's body. She wasn't a cannibal.

"I am not some lowly animal that you can insult, demon." Anko growled, standing.

"Hn. You kill so easily, and yet you say you are not an animal?" Was his unhesitant reply.

"I kill to bring my friends and other hybrids the peace that I have been denied while existing here, so don't you dare call me an animal." Anko would have been glad to die there next to Hideki, but there were other, _younger_ hybrids that still had a chance and had not yet been forced into a death match. She couldn't leave them here and alone at the mercy of these people, whom were debating about whether or not to kill her.

"Do animals feel hate, pity, anger, sadness, or regret as most of us here have?" Anko's words were filled with the first warm winds of anger. Her eyes were starting to fill with the jagged edges of hate as stared up at her would-be judge and jury. "Who are you to judge me here, after I have defended my inborn right to live?"

"Tch." The short demon muttered with disgust. "Pathetic. If you are not an animal, then why did you continue to fight for these pathetic humans?"

"Hiei." Kurama said calmly. That one word was heavy with a warning not to provoke Anko.

"Hn." Hiei answered, glaring at her. "She's not even worth an effort." He mumbled as he turned and started walking away.

"Oh, no you don't. Get your ass back here, Hiei!" Yusuke growled at him. Hiei kept walking away, ignoring him.

Anko listened carefully to his steps as they echoed in the room. They were extremely light, and it was difficult to hear them over the shouting of Yusuke and the groaning breaths of the humans that had just been beaten down by the group.

It was very important that he didn't go into the the dingy hallway that connected all of the hybrid pens. Very, _very_ important.

"Please don't let him notice the others." Anko whispered to herself. "By my sire drake, please don't let him find them..."

She wasn't even paying attention to the others now as she listened, giving her a far away look in her eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong with her now?" Yusuke murmured as he looked down at her. Kurama and the idiot looked down at her aswell and wondered why she had changed expression so quickly.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she heard Hiei's foot steps pass the door without so much as changing pace. _Everyone is safe. For now, atleast. No one can hurt them._

Hiei's steps stopped abruptly the instant that thought came to Anko's mind. The moment he did, her breathing stopped.

Slowly, he turned around and started walking back to the door that led into the connecting hallway.

All of Anko's fading panic resurfaced as she heard Hiei push the door open. She charged up the exit ramp suddenly, trying to cut Hiei off before he got too far into the hallway and saw the other hybrids that had been left by their owners as they fled.

"Shit, Hiei! Look out, she's coming your way!!" The idiot shouted as Anko reached the wooden trap door and tried to break through it from the exit ramp.

That was the whole point of the exit ramp. Since the hybrids couldn't climb out of the pit because of its depth and the energy dome that covered it, there had to be another method of getting them out. The trapdoor also made it so the hybrids couldn't escape or be realeased before the 'handlers' got them under control.

Anko's eyes were blazing as she tried to shove her way past the thick wooden door. The locks were too strong for her to try and force the door open, so she had to settle for going through it.

The wood was a pretty dense and strong variety. Anko finally managed to break through the center most plank of wood, forcing her already damaged arm and shoulder through it. The wood made groaning creak noises as it splintered apart, unable to handle all of the stress Anko was putting onto it.

"She's getting through it!" Yusuke called out, watching Anko force her way through.

The splinters of wood cut long, angry red wounds into her arm.

Anko quickly worked her other hand into the hole, trying to widen it to allow her body to pass through the door.

The wood was splintering badly now, shooting slivers as another board suddenly broke away. A chunk of it broke off so forcefully that it smacked the idiot in the head. He let out a startled yelp, but it hadn't hurt him too badly.

Anko finally managed to make the hole wide enough to pull herself through. She was scratched all to hell as a result, but she continued to break through the wooden door that was trying to hold her back.

Hiei had long since disappeared into the long hallway that connected the pens.

She hissed in pain as a longer sliver of wood cut into the flesh of her hip, deep enough to expose the gleaming white bone beneath.

Anko stood and shook herself slightly, trying to shake off the blood from her injuries which would make her grip alittle too weak.

"Woah..." The idiot murmured as he watched Anko come through the door.

"Yes." Kurama replied. "Hybrids are amazingly determined creatures, which makes them all the more dangerous."

"Of course. They could never be easy going now could they!?" Yusuke grumbled.

"It doesn't look that way, Yusuke." Kurama mumbled as he started reaching for his rose whip. He would have liked to restrain her before she tried something stupid.

Anko glanced at him out of the corner of her golden eye and glared. In one movement, she had shut her red eye and touched the twilight mark with her left hand. The finger tips glowed a brilliant golden color along with her right eye for a moment...

"Shut your eyes!" Kurama shouted suddenly as he ducked and covered both of his eyes.

There was a thread of panic in his voice that made Yusuke and the moron tightly shut their eyes as Anko lifted the glowing tips of her fingers high over her head.

The pupil of her golden yellow eye dialated to its fullest extent, so that it was no longer visible in her eye as her glowing fingertips sparked. For a breath-taking instant the spark remained suspended, and only Anko's golden yellow eye was open.

Then, the room flashed with brilliant light that seemed to explode from her fingertips. The humans and demons that had been beaten down by Yusuke and the others (the ones that were still concious anyways) that still had their eyes open screamed as the light blinded them, damaging their pupils so that they would be unable to see for the next few days.

"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!?" Yusuke shouted, still unwilling to open his eyes.

The room remained illuminated by the immense light, making it too risky to open their eyes prematurely. As it was, only Anko's single light dragon eye could endure the brilliant light without becoming blinded.

"You, the kitsune." Anko said softly. She sounded tired and drained, and that was because this more recent attack had put a major dent in her energy reserves. "You're familiar with light dragon abilities, right? Then you know I'm not lying when I say that this light will stay here for a while. Don't open your eyes."

She slowly walked to the hallway and slid through the door, shutting it and welcoming the darkness of the hallway. Now, all she had to do was find Hiei and protect everyone else here. Well, atleast _most_ of everyone. Everyone who still had their human side.

Most of the pens were empty, unlike before as Anko had been led to Hideki's execution.

_No, not execution. His_ **freedom**. Anko responded to the thought that had suddenly been planted into her head. She didn't know where that thought had come from.

_Why am I lying to myself?_ Another thought that she would never had come up with formed in her head. _I killed him for the thrill of killing. Thats all... why do I lie and say I'm not an animal?_

_I AM NO ANIMAL!_ She responded to the thought. Anko took her head in her hands and tightly shut her eyes, falling forward to her knees as she tried to escape from her own mind that was at the same time not her own. "I'm not... like that demon said..." She whispered. "I'm not an animal."

"Hn." That familiar, cold voice said over her. "You really are that pathetic."

Anko took her hands from her head and carefully set them on the ground in front of her, trying to stop herself from giving into the anger the dragon half of her had welling up within her body.

"You poisoned my thoughts, didn't you?" Anko said lowly, still not looking up as her hair hid her face. "You tried to get me to admit I enjoy it."

"Don't you?" Hiei asked. His voice was empty this time, making Anko wonder why he was doing this.

".... Yes, I enjoy it. I like tearing my talons and teeth into the bodies of my friends." Anko said harshly, dragging the words from her heart. Before Hiei could say anything, she added, "But at the same time, I hate myself for it. I keep waiting for someone who will free me like I've freed so many others." She bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood so that it dripped down from her chin in a light but steady line.

Hiei didn't say anything, only unsheathed his katana. "Hn. If you want death, then I'll give it to you." He muttered. The firelight from the torches danced off of the blade in a strange way, making Hiei's already red eyes glow as he positioned the sword for a lethal swing.

Anko looked up and stared at the blade as Hiei held it over her, waiting. This was it. She was finally going to be free.

A small sound attracted her attention at the end of the hallway. It was low, and barely carried down the long and now empty hall, but it was there. Anko immeadiately recognized it as another hybrid that she knew personally.

_Shane...._

Anko looked back up at Hiei with renewed determination as he swung down. In a flash, she put up her left arm to guard herself. The blade came down and cut deeply into her arm, stopping once it hit the bones in her forearm.

Hiei's eyes blazed suddenly with confusion as he added pressure to the blade, forcing Anko to wince. "Why are you still fighting? Why did you keep fighting?"

"Because," Anko said through grit teeth, glaring at Hiei, "it was the only way to keep everyone safe, and to make them free. I'll gladly suffer the loss of my left arm, suffer any pain, just to stay alive and watch over them. Protect them."

Hiei hesitated as he stared down into her mismatched eyes and saw something similar in them. Yukina's face swam up before his eyes as he remembered why he had originally gotten the Jagan eye, and what his reasons were for.

Anko was like him in so many ways, yet unlike him at the same time that it was strange.

"You'd die for the ones you would kill, just to keep them safe?" Hiei asked. Anko watched him, feeling the sudden lack of pressure he was exerting down onto her arm.

"Yeah." She muttered. Suddenly, she used her left arm and knocked the sword out of the way. It was still stuck in her arm with Hiei holding onto the hilt, but it was no longer between them. Anko's right hand was consumed in black flames as she suddenly went to strike Hiei with her outstretched hand.

He caught her wrist inches from his face and glared at her, while she did the same. She knew it was useless to try and keep attacking him from this position, but atleast he couldn't attack her in the same moment.

"Listen to me." Anko said in a voice barely above a growl. "There's someone down there that I know that needs my help. If you don't let me go, he'll be forced into fights I know he can't win."

"Another hybrid like you?"

"Yes. My hatchling." Anko said as she chanced a glance down the hall. "His name is Shane."

Hiei smirked briefly, but didn't let her go. "You seem a little young to have a son."

Anko blushed slightly but shook her head. "He's not my son, but the hatchling I had to train so he could survive. It's been my responsibility to take care of him."

"Hn, whatever." Hiei muttered as his grip tensed on her wrist. "I don't believe you."

Anko shook her head and unexpectedly jerked herself back, tearing her wrist from Hiei and adding more cuts to her arm. Blood was flowing in steady rivers down her arm and leg now, and she only had a few instants left before she could no longer move.

She hesitated slightly, staring down the hall and listening again when she heard Shane struggling. She could just faintly hear his wing beats and the scrabbling of claws as he tried to stay away from the handlers.

_Hang on Shane. I promise I'll get you out of this..._ Anko thought as she dashed down the hall, Hiei staring at her as she ran.

"Hn." He said quietly as he sheathed his sword. The blood that she had left trailing behind her was a clear indication that she wouldn't last much longer without taking a break to recover.

Anko could feel herself fading as she lost blood, but that didn't matter right now. She needed to get to Shane.

"Damnit, Skye, stop messing around!" She could hear Kazu shouting at her young charge as more scrambling emanated from his pen. There was a low snarl and a high pitched cry that meant Kazu was using his other hybrid to restrain Shane.

Anko knew this one also, and he was one of the half-drags that she wouldn't have felt guilty for killing.

His name was Darc, and he was more murderous than most drakes. He was one of the exceptions to the 'Angel' induction rules, having killed more than the required amount.

Darc was sick in his head. He loved the kill and had no qualms about torturing those he fought before slowly killing them. He was the perfect hybrid: Malevolent, violent, blood thirsty, and without a concious.

Anko was scared of Darc. Terrified.

Suddenly, the mad scrambling stopped, and she could hear Darc scenting her blood. Her heart nearly stopped as her blood ran cold with incredible, paralyzing fear.

"Darc?" Kazu's angry voice said.

"I smell the one between." Darc murmured back. "She's hurting now, and she's here. Come to save the sky?" He hissed as he poked his head out of the door way and stared at her.

The name, 'the one between', was a pet name he had given her after their first fight. He hadn't killed her, making her one of the few of his opponents that survived. No, Darc didn't want to kill one of the few that had managed to attract him.

He wasn't interested in her because she was strong, or because she looked weak. But rather, he was more interested in specific traits that only the opposite gender possessed.

He viewed her as a prospective mother of his hatchlings, and only because she was part Darkness Dragon, like he was.

His red glowing eyes glared into hers, his long serpentine body coiling and ready to spring. He growled low in his throat, his eyes flashing.

Anko took a hesitant step back and hissed, her own red eye flashing. Right now, _that_ was the farthest thing from their minds. All that Darc could smell and see was Anko, coated in her own blood, and weakend.

Darkness Dragons would kill eachother if the other was weak enough. That was how they operated; simple as that.

Darc moved like a well oiled machine, his scales slightly scuffed from the small fight with Shane. His main concern was Anko.

"Damnit, Darc, get in here and help the handlers get Skye under control!" Kazu shouted as the fighting picked up where it had left off.

"Master," Darc hissed. He looked like Anko, without the wings and golden spines, horns, and belly scales. Everthing about him was a dull black, from his roughly foot long horns to his long tail. He also didn't have the little dorsal spikes Anko had.

He stood at a menacing 8 feet, more slender than Hideki, but almost as equally muscled. His teeth were sparkling white and razor sharp as he hissed at Anko. It was a startlingly deep sound that reverberated throughout the entire hallway. His eyes seemed to glow more brightly as the dragon half of his psyche slid behind his eyes.

He wanted this. He wanted to kill Anko.

Anko hissed back, her sound lighter but more harsh. She was physically and mentally drained, and loosing alot of blood in the process. Her red eye glowed as wings started sprouting from her back, stretching out behind her.

This time, she didn't bother to hide the transisition into the dragon body. Her body first patterned with the design of the scales before they seemed to form on her skin, as if some giant hand was embossing each of the individual scales onto her body. Her nails gained a golden metallic sheen and grew into sharp talons as horns started to jut up over her eyes. Her dorsal spikes emerged as her hair bleached itself out, changing so that it was now a mane.

Her bones began to grow and harden, while hollowing out at the same moment. Her neck grew slowly out ontil it was the proper length, leaving her head to be the last thing to change.

Few dragons could turn the normally grotesque shift into something that was actually pleasing to the eyes. Anko and a few others had turned it into an art form, shifting between forms so smoothly that water came to mind with the ease that they turned.

"You were always such a show off, the one between. Even back then..." Darc murmured as recollection passed through his eyes. Anko could almost see the first time they fought.

That had been before she had been an 'Angel', and it had also been when she was younger and more naive. Basically before she killed.

"Tch, things change." Anko replied, her voice raspy with anger in the dragon body. "I'm not how you remember me all those years ago, Darc."

"So it would seem..." Darc replied, flicking his serpentine tongue at her. "So it would seem."

Anko knew in that moment that the two shared a perfect understanding. They would gladly kill the other; one simply for the thrill of it, the other to protect the last hybrid that was still there.

_Then lets go._ Anko made the first charge, an attack very unlike her style. For the first time, she was truly giving herself over to the thing that hid within her own thoughts. Letting it have full control over her body and actions, and planning to die soon after she protected Shane. _Heh... maybe_ they _will have pity on him. I can only hope._

Darc stared at her for a moment, surprised that she was making such a drastic move. He remembered her as an intelligent fighter, but this was stupid.

She collided with him, her jaws snapping together as she tried to land a blow on the more serpentine drake. Darc snarled and coiled around her before she could pull back and make an attempt for another strike.

He wrapped his body around hers, but it was what she wanted, because he could no longer try to dodge her attacks. Anko hissed and slammed her body against the wall and floor with all of her might, bruising Darc's body as he snarled in sudden pain. Her red eye glowed again, responding to Darc's pained cries as she darted her head around to his and struck with lightning reflexes, clamping her jaws down onto his windpipe.

Darc made a few gasping noises before unwinding himself and jerking away from her, hissing as some of his scales got caught by her teeth.

A light trickle of blackish blood splattered the floor as he ripped himself away, more appearing after Anko spat out the contents of her mouth and took a threatening step forward, hissing. It almost sound like _See what else I can do_.

Darc shook his head alightly, growling at her. His own rage ignited the blood he had lost, so that small black flames illuminated their fight. Small patches of his blood had been cast onto Anko, but she didn't care. It wasn't like flames of darkness could harm her.

This time, it was Darc who charged at her. He tackled her into the wall, snarling and ripping his claws into her exposed stomach. Anko roared, both vocally and in her head as she remembered their first fight. It had almost been exactly like this one.

Her innards burned, and she knew her stomach had been ruptured. She could feel herself getting angrier and angrier as her light side deserted her, abandoning her to the darkness that was both killing and consuming her.

Her right eye dimmed, so that it was no longer bright and nearly luminescent but dark and fading.

She could feel her body burning. Her whole world became nothing but an aching thing with her at its center as she prepared for her most devastating and lethal attack. She came back into herself moments before she unleashed it, a feeling of immense grief and guilt washing over her instants before.

"And so," Anko growled past the pain. "We will both repent together in hell."

Darc stopped clawing her as he stared at her curiously. "What?"

Anko suddenly went back into her human shape and grabbed him around the neck, looking like she was pulling him into an embrace when in reality she was clinging to him to get the greatest effect of her attack.

_Hideki, I was thinking of using this attack on you._ She thought as her eyes slipped shut and and two tears slid out of her eyes. One black, one white.

"Burning Repentance." Anko whispered so that only the now confused Darc could hear her.

Her wounds and blood that covered her and now Darc sprang to life suddenly with golden flames, black cores dancing in the angry bright fires.

Darc let out a piercing shriek as he was ignited, while Anko held on. She had started developing this technique after she became an angel, filling it with her guilt and regret. The focus of the whole attack was combining the light and dark halves of her lineage into a devastating attack like this.

Unfortunately she had to use her blood as a catalyst, or else the fire wouldn't form. It was even more damaging than the flames of darkness, because it was combined with the purest form of light energy. It affected only those who Anko viewed as guilty in the deaths of the other half dragons, and that included **her**.

The flames hurt more than anything she had ever felt. The fire that sprang from her wounds burned the brightest, because Anko felt she was the most guilty. It was her own way of making up for all of the pain and death she had brought.

Darc screamed as he writhed under the flames of Anko's attack. He finally ripped her away from himself and rolled around, smearing her blood off of himself and putting the flames out. Even with the flames gone, he continued to scream. Anko's will that he suffered was stronger than his will to make it stop.

Anko coughed as pain racked her whole body, sitting against the stone wall.

"Anko!" Shane called out suddenly. She became aware that she had zoned out for a while there, probably trying to escape from the pain she had inflicted onto herself.

"Sh--Shane.." Anko gasped as she looked up. He looked like he was only 8 or 9 as he kneeled infront of her, worry crossing his face.

"Its... its ok, Shane." She sait quietly. His hands were bound infront of him and he had what looked like a catch pole attached to his neck. She looked past him and saw that Darc was wimpering behind Kazu and Shane's handlers. "I'm sorry. I should have protected you better, Skye." Anko murmured gently touching his face. His baby blue eyes looked even sadder than normal. His light blue hair matched his eyes, adding to his depressed demeanor.

"Anko, where are they going to take me?" Shane whispered, looking back at Kazu and flinching.

"Your going to another hell, Shane of the Skye." Anko whispered back. New tears were finding their way out of her eyes.

"Are you coming with me?" He asked, falling forward and hugging Anko as much as he was able.

"No... No I can't. You'll be alright, Shane." She said wrapping her arms around him comfortingly.

"But I want you to." Shane murmured, something creeping into his voice.

"Don't worry." Anko said, patting his back. She glanced down and saw the two crystallized tears she had formed before the attack. ((No, they aren't Hiraseki stones like Yukina can produce... Its crystallized light and darkness that forms to prepare the 'Burning Repentance' attack. Only Anko can create them.)) She picked up the light stone gingerly and looked at it. "I'll always be with you if you keep this stone. Look, see? I'll always have the other one. Don't worry about me anymore, Shane."

Shane carefully took the stone and nodded to her. "I'll come back for you, Anko. I promise, one day."

Anko shut her eyes and smirked. "That's a nice thought."

"Thats enough heart to heart. We need to get going before those damn spirit detectives find us." Kazu muttered.

Anko looked up and watched as they dragged Shane and Darc away. She never knew if she was going to see them again... ever....

.......End of Chapter 2 .......


	3. Suspicious Behavior

Chapter 3: Suspicious Behavior

DISCLAIMER: I **DO NOT** own Yu Yu or Hiei, although I wish I did . I **DO** own all characters that I have created, so don't use them. Cheers!

Recap: How to put this... In short, Anko just had her ass handed to her on a plate after Darc attacked her. She used a selfdamaging attack in hopes of killing him and freeing herself. Now, she sits dying against the wall after Shane, aka Skye, was dragged away after making a promise to come back for her. Will she really survive and see the young hybrid again?

...ooo...

Anko drifted off into unconciousness, certain she would never wake up again. _I'm sorry you won't be able to come back for me, Shane._ were her parting thoughts as she let go.

"How long is this damn hallway?" Yusuke grumbled as he and the others ran down the hall. "Geez... We've been running for like an hour now."

"Actually, we been running for only a few minutes, Yusuke." Kurama corrected, lightening the mood.

"Whatever. I'm going to so beat the hell out of the girl when I get ahold of her..." Yusuke said, continuing down the hallway.

"..." Hiei remained silent as he went along with them. He could have easily gone ahead of them, but something wasn't right. He had sensed several people ahead of them, and now he only sensed one.

He had felt a tremendous expulsion of energy, then an abrupt decrease of it. It meant that either whatever had created the energy had left, or that they had died suddenly.

"Whoa..." Yusuke said as he stopped suddenly. The hall was even worse then the fighting pit in terms of obvious conflict. Huge depressions in the wall and floor showed where Anko had body-slammed Darc, and singe marks were all that was left of the blood that had burned there only minutes ago.

Anko was sitting against the wall, head thrown back with her hands to her side, one forming a fist like she was holding something.

Blood was still dripping from her arm where she had been cut by Hiei's katana, the only sound that could be heard as it splashed against the stony floor.

"What...?" Kuwabara mumbled as he took a step forward. Her abdomen was a red ruin of claw marks, making it hard to tell if she was even breathing.

"It looks like she got into another... fight." Yusuke said carefully. He looked into pen that was across from where she was sitting and found more evidence of another recent altercation in the form of deep gouges in stone aswell as still burning, black flames.

Kurama took a cautious step forward and kneeled down next to her, leaning over her to try and hear her breathing or heart beat.

"Hn. There's no chance that onna is still alive." Hiei said in his usual monotonic voice. "She was already wounded when we got here."

Kurama blinked and kept listening, ignoring Hiei. "She's still alive." He said after a moment.

"What?" Hiei asked, a subtle edge of surprise in his voice. "..."

"She's still breathing." Kurama repeated, carefully taking her wrist and trying to find her pulse. It was fast and weak as her body tried to compensate for the blood loss she had suffered, when it reality it was worsening the situation.

"Who'd a thought that such a scrawny little chick like her would be able to take so much damage." Kuwabara said as he leaned down to look at her face. "She's even shorter than the shrimp."

"Indeed. It's odd though; most hybrids are taller, and their height in this shape is proportional to their height as dragons. She can't be taller than six or seven feet." Kurama replied, taking off the jacket of his school uniform.

"What are you doing, Kurama?" Hiei asked quietly. It was pointless to ask since he already knew what the fox was going to do.

"If we bring her back with us, there's a chance that she'll survive this ordeal." Kurama responded, wrapping Anko up in his jacket. "She showed remarkable intelligence, mercy, and compassion when she blinded us in the main area. She could have easily killed us without a secondary thought. Maybe that means she's not as terrible as we first assumed."

"You're not honestly thinking about bringing her before Koenma to face judgement, are you?" Hiei continued. "Merciful or no, she's a half dragon. The best she could get would be life imprisonment."

"Maybe not." Yusuke interjected, walking back into the hallway. "You two stole some of the most guarded artifacts in spirit world and got off with probation. Maybe she'll get lucky and that'll happen to her too."

"Hn." Hiei grumbled darkly. Maybe they were right. She had had an oppertunity to kill his allies, but she instead went to help another of her kind. Maybe he hadn't given her enough credit.

"Kuwabara, could you hold her while I summon a portal?" Kurama asked as he lifted Anko up, wrapped in his school jacket.

"Uh... yeah, sure thing Kurama." Kuwabara mumbled as he took Anko easily. She was very light so it wasn't a real problem.

Her fist was still tightly clenched as Kuwabara looked down at her. He didn't get the same feeling he had earlier when he looked at her. Now, all he felt was pity.

Kurama summoned the portal back to spirit world and motioned to everyone to step through. Kuwabara was the first, followed by Yusuke.

"You disapprove of bringing her back with us, don't you?" Kurama asked Hiei.

"Hn. Is it that obvious, Fox?" Hiei answered coldly.

"It couldn't hurt. If Koenma decides she's unfit to live, she'll be executed before she can even wake up."

"Hn." Hiei said tonelessly. He blinked once at Kurama before stepping through the portal.

...ooo Later, With Anko ooo...

Anko blinked awake, alittle stunned that she was waking up at all. She sat up and looked around, trying to figure out if it had all been a dream or if she was genuinely free from her hell of a life.

The room was a pristine white color, and alittle smaller than her pen back at the arena. But this place was definately more comfortable. She even had a bed instead of a small pile of straw like she was used to.

She blushed slightly when she realized she had been changed, and was now wearing some white clothing instead of the grubby rags she had been in before. Anko was now wearing loose fitting white pants and a tighter, short sleeve top.

All of her old wounds were healed, with only a few light pink marks to remind her that they had ever been there.

_Have I been unconcious long enough to heal on my own, or is this western magic?_ Anko thought as she reached up and touched her shoulder, sliding her hand under her shirt. Her fingers ran over scars that Hideki's wounds had left behind, a sign of deep wounds being heal rapidly. _I thought so..._

Anko jerked lightly when she heard someone knocking on the door before slowly pushing it open. Her face went from confused to blank as she watched the one called Kurama from earlier smile at her in a reassuring way.

"Are you hungry?" He asked kindly as he opened the door wider, revealing a small plate of food in his hand.

Anko glanced at the food, then at his face. "Is it poisoned?" She asked, her face perfectly blank. She didn't know what to expect, seeing as how they had been seriously considering killing her. Why should she trust them?

Kurama chuckled slightly, trying to relax her as she stared at him. "No, it's not poisoned." He stepped inside and shut the door behind him, moving closer to the bed where Anko was sitting. "I just thought you may have been hungry. You've been sleeping for about two days now..."

Anko watched him apprehensively. He looked truthful enough, but still...

He sat down on the edge of the bed, close while at the same time not invading her personal space. "Here." He said and handed her the food, still smiling.

Hesitantly, she took the food. It was something that didn't need a utensil to be eaten, and it wasn't too hot either. "Thanks..." She mumbled as she took the food. Now that she thought about it, she was alittle hungry.

"What's your name?" Kurama asked as he watched her eat. She was doing so slowly, almost like she wasn't sure if she was hungry.

"Anko, of the Twilight." She answered quietly.

"Twilight?" He asked, trying to make her more comfortable with conversation.

"My dragon name." Anko said cautiously, no longer eating. She had eaten very little.

"What does it mean?"

"It's a representation of my sire's breed. He was a light and darkness combination. So, he was Twilight."

Kurama nodded in understanding. "Either way, you have a nice name."

"Hn." Anko mumbled back. She touched the golden brand on her cheek softly, staying silent.

"What's going to happen to me now?" Anko asked carefully after a minute of uncomfortable silence.

Kurama looked at her for a full minute, his face blank as he thought about what he should tell her. "You're going to be interviewed by the ruler of spirit world and two others, to see if you can live normally among humans."

"And if I can't?" Anko persisted, her voice unusually quiet. Even for her.

"Then you'll spend the remainder of your life in a prison located in spirit world, where you can be watched and contained."

"Tch, no one can contain me. Only subjugate me into another hell like existence that I wouldn't care to live anyway." Anko replied, leaning back after setting the food down.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Anko." Kurama said gently, still watching her. "But there is still a chance that that won't happen."

"Hn." Anko muttered. "And there is a chance that it still will. From what I heard from you and those other guys, my kind is despised. No, we're hated."

"..." Kurama looked away again, before reaching into his pocket. He had nearly forgotten that he still had the deep black stone that had been clenched so tightly in her hand. "This is yours, correct?" He asked, handing the stone to her.

She looked at it for a moment before reaching out and taking the stone. "Thanks." Anko said, staring down at it. She sighed to herself, wondering why she was even there.

Kurama gave a kind smile, trying to be reassuring. "Everything will work itself out. You'll see."

She looked up at him and nodded. "If you say so."

...ooo...

Hiei stared up at the moon as it hung in the sky over head. He couldn't get rid of Anko's image as she sat against the wall, dying.

_I would gladly suffer the loss of my left arm, suffer any pain, just to stay alive and watch over them. Protect them._ Her last words kept ringing through his thoughts, and he was growing more and more annoyed.

"She was just a baka hybrid." He growled to himself. "She couldn't possibly know what she was talking about."

"Who are you trying to convince?" A familiar voice called up from the ground, below the tree that Hiei was sitting in.

"I'm not in the mood right now, Kurama." Hiei hissed, glaring down at the red-haired kitsune.

"Her interview is tomorrow."

"Hn. What do I care?" Hiei said darkly, moving farther into the shadows of the tree.

"If you didn't respect her atleast on some level, you would never have let her down the hallway like you did. I saw the blood, Hiei. She was dying and you could have easily stopped her and finished her off." Kurama persisted.

"Hn. Maybe because I didn't respect her I let her go."

"You and I both know that your pride and your honor wouldn't have let you do that."

"Hn."

...ooo...

Anko couldn't stop dreaming about Shane, and the look of hurt in his eyes as he was dragged away.

She always woke up growling after these dreams. Always.

Anko touched the darkness stone dangling around her neck, an image of Shane flashing through her mind as she remembered giving him the light stone.

The symbolisim of giving him the light stone, and her the dark, was not lost on her in the least. She was guilt ridden and lost in her own darkness, while he was still untouched by evil. Atleast for a few more years.

Maybe thats why she felt so protective of him.

Anko sat up and let go of the stone around her neck. Kurama had given her a chain to attach it to, since she seemed so attached to it herself. He had really been trying hard to make her comfortable and at ease.

But to be honest, how could someone be at ease when the interview that would determine the rest of their lives was fast approaching?

She leaned forward slightly, feeling the burning sensation most hybrids got when they didn't shift for a while. It was normal, occuring in hybrids that had to heal crippling injuries. At most, they were kept out of the ring for about a week, and they described it as the worst feeling.

To shift at all required energy, and when a hybrid was injured naturally all energy went to recovering. A shift while so badly wounded would also be dangerous, so hybrids were often drugged to keep them from committing suicide via shifting while almost fatally wounded.

Anko had only been seriously injured once, in a fight versus Darc, and that had been enough to make her never want to experience it again. It started out as a numb kind of pain, but escalated into agonized burning. Thats where she got the idea for her suicide attack.

_Then again..._ Anko thought bitterly, _it's not suicide if I don't die._

The burning subsided after a minute, and Anko could finally look up without pain shooting through her back. It had been proven by some of the sicker sponsors that happened to be scientists that the pain was a result of the build of the hybridized energy the participants produced.

Not quite demon energy, not quite human spirit energy, but a mix of the two. It didn't combine well in the bodies of humans, and it caused the burning sensation many experienced.

Anko heard someone walking into the room, and she actually expected Kurama. Instead, she was greeted by a woman with sky blue hair and pink eyes, wearing a nearly hot pink kimono.

"Who the hell are you?" Anko asked alittle defensively. She had been so used to Kurama walking through the door that it had startled her to have such a break in routine.

"Now, is that really how you should speak to your escort?" The woman asked in a cheery tone.

"Where I come from, yes." Anko answered truthfully. She didn't add the part about her frequently burning her escorts with the flames of darkness.

"Oh, really! It's not like I'm going to hurt you or anything!"

"Wouldn't be the first time I've been lied to." Anko retorted.

The woman gave her a kind smile. "It's alright. No one's going to hurt you here, I just need to escort you to see Koenma."

"And I'll ask again, who are you? Who's this... Koenma?"

"How rude of me. My name's Botan!" She said happily, still smiling. "And Lord Koenma is the ruler of Spirit World, under his father King Yama."

"Hn." Anko murmured after a moment. "Anko."

"Excuse me?" Botan asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"My name is Anko." She reponded, standing. "Ok, Botan. Let's get this walk over and done with."

"Great!" Botan exclaimed, clapping her hands together. She pushed open the door and walked through it, leading Anko along.

Anko glanced at the entourage of soft-looking orges that were following them. _Hn. Like they think I'll be stopped by a bunch of paper-pushing flabbys that more than likely have never seen real fighting in their entire lives._

Anko glared at them, each flinching slightly as she turned that red eye on them. That was the first thing anyone noticed about her besides the gold brand on her cheek.

She sighed and turned back, following Botan silently. Atleast there was an upside; no one was dragging her.

Botan smiled back at her every once in a while, but otherwise nothing happened on the long walk from her room to Koenma's office.

"We're here!" Botan said happily, still smiling. Anko was pretty much ready to vomit from all this cheeriness. It wasn't like she got a regular dose of happy people, and it made her uncomfortable to be right next to one.

Anko looked up at the massive, yellow doors with the large, unique door handles. It was as large as a dinner plate, made entirely of bronze or some other golden type metal. It was molded so that it resembled a demon's face, with a cut separating the two halves so the doors could open.

"This 'Lord Koenma' must be pretty damn big to need these massive doors..." Anko said to herself, noting the heighth and width of the doors.

Botan chuckled, covering her mouth abruptly to try and mask the sound. "You'll see soon enough."

Anko turned and looked at her quizically, arching a brow in confusion. "...Hn?"

"You sound just like Hiei!" Botan said with more chuckling as she pushed open the doors.

"Whatever." Anko said darkly, running a hand over where his katana had cut into her arm. The area was still alittle sensitive, but it had healed. Didn't keep her from remembering the demon that had cut her, though.

The moment she remembered his red eyes, she started getting that burning sensation again. She knew what was causing it too; the darkness portion of her dragon blood. Subconciously, it knew that somehow that midget of a demon could free it from all of Anko's careful control and finally do what it liked without her forcing it to do what _she_ wanted.

"Let's hurry and get this over with." Anko muttered darkly as she walked past Botan, trying to hide the fact that her red eye was flaring up in color.

Oh, yeah. It **definately** wanted out.

Anko didn't bother looking up at the person behind the desk as she sat down in the chair, positioned directly infront of Koenma's desk.

"Ah hem. As I'm sure you already know, this hearing is to determine your suitability to exist peacefully in the human world." A young, but knowledgable voice, said with authority. "You are a hybrid, correct Anko?"

"Well, duh. You guys found me at a fight ring didn't you?" Anko looked up, wondering who the hell it was that had stated the obvious. She stopped when she realized it was a toddler, wearing a big blue hat with the word Jr. "You're the great Lord Koenma?"

Koenma sighed and settled into his chair, looking like he was preparing for something. "Alright, get it over with."

"Get what over with?" Anko questioned. She had only been thrown off by his appearance, but now that the shock was over with she was fine.

"Now that you know I'm a baby, you're going to start commenting just like Yusuke and Kuwabara do..."

"Actually," Anko said with a hint of irritation, "I just want to know what's going to happen to me. Whether you're a kid or not is not my concern. As long as you have sound enough judgement, it doesn't bother me how old you are."

Koenma stared at her with surprise for a brief instant, before blinking. "Excellent. And I can assure you that my judgement is indeed quite sound."

Koenma's thoughts: _Yes! She isn't making fun of me because I look like a toddler!_

"Peachy." Anko said, settling back into her own chair. "So, what's going to happen?"

"Well... first, we need to check your eligibility for the human world. You are a human hybrid, correct?"

Anko nodded in a bored sort of way. "Yep. Fifty percent human, fifty percent dragon. Standard issue fighting hybrid, at your disposal."

...oooHuman World, A Day Later ooo...

Yusuke Urameshi was scowling as his unofficial girlfriend dragged him off for another pointless day of school. ((A/N: Yesh... You can tell how much I love school huh?))

"I don't see why I have to go to school Keiko!" Yusuke growled as she dragged him along by his ear. They recieved their usual 'Are They Ok?' looks, and Yusuke dished out his usual, 'Say anything and I'll hurt you badly.' look to them all.

All of the on looking students shuddered and quickly turned away, afraid of what Yusuke would do once he got away from his 'keeper'.

"You need to get an education if you want to make it in life, so stop complaining!" She snapped back, dragging him into the building. "Besides, we're supposed to get a new student today."

She finally let go of Yusuke's ear, heading over to her seat. "What do you mean, 'we're supposeed to get a new student'? If that were true, the damn teacher would make a big deal out of it like he usually does whenever something like that happens!" Yusuke said, following her over to her seat.

"I heard the dean of students talking about it yesterday while I was doing work for the student council. It was really last minute, and I heard the student transferring has never been to school before."

Yusuke smirked and cocked his eyebrow. "Wow, Keiko. You were eavesdropping? I must be rubbing off on you!"

Keiko blushed suddenly, realizing what she had done. "N-no I wasn't! I was.. I was just near by!"

Yusuke smirked even more. "Yea, yea..."

Their teacher walked in and instantly glared at Yusuke. It was a well known fact that most of the teaching staff at the Jr. High hated him to no end, and that he hated them right back.

"Take your seats, everyone." The teacher growled, getting behind his desk. That translated into: Sit your ass down Urameshi before I send you to the principal.

"Whatever." Yusuke said just as coldly as he made his way slowly to his seat. This statement translated into: Bite me, because I could give a damn.

After Yusuke grudginly sat down in his seat, the teacher cleared his throat. "I'm pleased to say that today, another student will be joining us here in the class room. Please, welcome Anko Kurosaki and be sure to make her feel welcome here in this room." That last bit was directed to one student in particular that deemed it necessary to give his teacher the one-finger salute.

Three guesses who that was.

"Come in, Miss Anko. We're waiting for you." The teacher said turning towards the door.

The class held their breath as they waited to see who would come walking through that door. After a second, a pretty, short girl came striding in. Her hair length was indiscernable because it was up in a bun, and only her left side was visible as she walked in.

There was collective gasping among the male students, aswell as grumbling among the female students as she walked in. She stopped after reaching the desk and turned towards the students, not even bothering to smile or show any semblance of emotion on her face.

This time, the entire class murmured in surprise when they saw the brand on her right cheek, aswell as her mix-matched gold and red eyes.

"Are those contacts?" One girl whispered to her friend.

"What about that tattoo on her face! That must have hurt alot!" Another said, loud enough to carry across the room. Anko seemed unphased by all of this, until Yusuke stood up and shouted, "What the HELL are you doing here!"

Anko looked back at him and blinked, before shrugging and answering, "Do I know you?"

Yusuke looked at her with surprise for a moment, before his teacher started to reach for certain papers...

"No, I guess you don't." He muttered darkly as he sat down, crossing his arms across his chest as he glared at her. Anko didn't really even give him a second glance as she looked to the teacher and asked where her seat was.

"Over there, by Miss Yukimura. Keiko, could you please raise your hand?" The teacher asked, already begining the lesson. Keiko readily raised her hand, guiding Anko to her new place.

"Thank you." Anko said quietly, but still within earshot of Yusuke. He scowled harder, knowing something was up.

The day went by slowly, and both Yusuke and Anko were grateful when lunch finally rolled around.

"You're allowed to either stay in the class room to eat, or you can go outside as long as you're back in your seat by the time lunch is over." Keiko said helpfully, taking out her own lunch. "Did you bring something for today?"

Anko shook her head. Once to the left, then once to the right. "I don't really eat." Keiko smiled slightly. "Well, if you get alittle hungry, you can have some of mine ok?"

"Not necessary." Anko said, taking out the book the class had to read and catching up.

"You're right, but I'll still share." Keiko said, still smiling. It was making Yusuke want to wretch right then and there. Keiko could be so sweet and friendly sometimes.

Anko looked at her curiously before going back to the book. Almost the moment she started reading, a ringing sound emanated from her backpack.

She blinked, like she was annoyed, before setting the book down and reaching into her bag. She read the caller ID on the cell phone's face and frowned, mumbling, "I need to take this." as she walked out into the hall.

_Oh, no you don't. Who'd be calling you anyway?_ Yusuke thought suspiciously as he followed Anko out into the hall. She walked behind a corner and stopped, making Yusuke do the same.

"What?" She asked harshly. For a second there, Yusuke thought she was talking to him when he realized it was actually the phone. "Now? I'm..." She sighed darkly. "Ok, ok. I understand sir. I'll try to get back on time to finish school. Don't be angry if I can't."

She clicked the phone off and slid it into the pocket of her skirt, before walking out of the building with anger and with purpose.

"Thinking of ditching on your first day?" Yusuke said to himself as he watched her walk off. "I'll figure out what you're up too. Now's my chance to put this detective title to good use!"

Without much of a second thought, Yusuke went back into the building to go and find Kuwabara.

...ooo End Chapter 3 ooo...

A/N: Nope... She didn't die! I'm glad you guys were concerned though. Thank you for supporting this fic with your reviews! Also, please tell me if there are any mistakes in here so I can go back and fix them.


	4. Recompense for Past Sins

Chapter 4: Recompense for Past Sins

DISCLAIMER: I **DO NOT** own Yu Yu or Hiei, although I wish I did . I **DO** own all characters that I have created, so don't use them. Cheers!

RECAP: Anko was rescued by the Spirit Detectives and brought to face Koenma's judgement. Kurama tried to befriend her, while Hiei was wary. A day after her hearing, she ended up in the Human World, much to Yusuke's surprise as she was enrolled in his school and assigned to his very class. Anko just recieved a strange call and has left the campus, leaving Yusuke to figure out a way to follow her and figure out what she's up to.

...ooo...

Yusuke ran up to the roof, knowing that Kuwabara and his friends would be there eating lunch. He would have gotten Kurama too, but he was at a school on the opposite side of town and would never have made it in time. There was no way Hiei would come unless he had to, and he had always acted strangely towards her. Atleast, since he'd met her.

"Hey, dumbass!" Yusuke shouted as he ran up onto the roof and banged the door open. He smirked when he saw Kuwabara sitting with his group of friends as usual.

"Geez, Urameshi! Don't scare us like that!" Kuwabara shouted back, patting his heart. It looked like Yusuke had really startled them all up there on the roof.

"C'mon. We got work to do." Yusuke said much more seriously as he started walking back through the door.

"What're you talking about?" Kuwabara said as he stood up and dusted himself off.

"Remember that chick that Kurama brought back with us the other day?" Yusuke asked as he started climbing the stairs back down to the ground level. "She's a student here now. When I asked her what she was doing here, she said she didn't even know me."

Kuwabara looked at him strangely as he ran down the staris to catch up to him. "Are ya sure, Urameshi? She was pretty messed up when we got her, and its only been like four days."

"I'm **telling** you it was her! She had the same freaky eyes and that gold tattoo on her face. Hell, she even had that white streak in her hair." Yusuke said angrily. "She must have escaped from spirit world or something. Why else would she have been here!"

Kuwabara thought hard for awhile, but the question was obviously far beyond his mental capacity.

"She got a weird call during lunch, and now she's ditching." Yusuke said after a while, once they'd reach the ground floor. "She's up to something, and I want to know what that is."

"So, are we gonna follow her?" Kuwabara asked as he and Yusuke walked out of the doors.

"Of course. Why else would I be spirit detective if I didn't investigate suspicious behavior?" Yusuke asked as he smirked. "This title finally came in handy! It beats school anyway."

Kuwabara smirked also as they reached the gates of the campus. "Ya got that right, Urameshi!" He said happily as they walked out.

"**YUSUKE!**" Someone shouted from the upper floors of the school.

"Uh oh..." Yusuke said as he and Kuwabara looked up to see a thuroughly disgruntled Keiko glaring down at them.

"What do you think you're doing! You can't leave campus yet, it's only lunch!" Keiko shouted, her head sticking out of the window.

"Oh, shit, she spotted us!" Yusuke muttered to Kuwabara as he started to sprint off of campus.

Kuwabara started to look ill as he also went after Yusuke. Keiko's fury was notoriously brutal. Atleast, that was how he liked to make it look.

"Yusuke! You better not be ditching again!" Keiko shouted even more loudly as he charged around the corner, Kuwabara following behind him.

...ooo...

Yusuke stopped once they hit mainstreet and put his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "Man, Keiko is gonna kill me!" He grumbled loudly.

Kuwabara was leaning against the side of the building, also trying to catch his breath. "Hey.. is that her?" Kuwabara asked as he pointed to a short girl with a bun in her hair.

Anko.

Yusuke looked up and caught the side profile of her face, looking around. The tale-tell brand on her cheek is what gave her away as she walked slowly along the street, finding her way to an unknown location.

"Whatcha think she's doing, Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked as Anko slowly got further and further away.

"It looks like she's heading to the forest." Yusuke answered. "The street we're on takes you directly to that forest on the edge of town, but I don't know why'd she want to go."

Kuwabara shrugged as he and Yusuke started following her. They kept their distance, trying not to let Anko catch them following. It was already well past lunch at their school, so they all knew they wouldn't be heading back.

Once Anko reached the edge of the forest, she looked behind herself almost suspiciously. Yusuke and Kuwabara quickly scrambled from her view, hoping that she hadn't noticed them.

Satisfied that no one was following her, she shrugged and started walking along the dirt trails that led into the forest.

"Sheesh, that was a close one." Kuwabara muttered as peaked out from behind the parked car that was hiding them.

"Yeah, I was pretty damn certain that she saw us that time..." Yusuke muttered, glancing at the place she had been. "Ok, let's go and see what little miss antisocial is up too."

Kuwabara nodded as they slowly trailed Anko into the forest, noticing that she was stopping once every dozen of feet and looking up.

"What is this crackhead doing!" Yusuke murmured impatiently from behind a large tree that the two were hiding behind. "It's almost like she's sniffing the air or something like that."

Kuwabara shuddered as a feeling of dread started to worm its way into him. "I have a bad feeling about this Urameshi. Maybe we should leave or somethin'."

Yusuke shook his head and whispered, "And miss out on whatever this girl is doing? Not a chance!"

Anko blinked and started heading off of the path, into a dense standing of bushes. Yusuke and, hesitantly, Kuwabara looked at one another and followed her through the bushes.

They walked further into the denser places of the woods, Kuwabara and Yusuke struggling to keep up with Anko while she moved easily and noiselessly through the underbrush.

"How... the... hell is... she... doing this?" Yusuke panted as he nearly tripped for the umpt-enth time over an exposed root.

Anko moved so easily through the underbrush, that it was almost like it wasn't there for her. Her pace was so quick as they traveled, that the boys found it difficult to follow her and remain silent as they did.

She suddenly vanished into a clearing, hidden away from the prying eyes of the two teenage boys that had been so relentlessly trailing her by a few overgrown bushes.

Cautiously, the two separated some of the branches and peered through at the short half-human as she stood facing something they couldn't make out in the forested gloom.

"Manzo, class D felon of Reikai." Anko called out to a stooped figure. "You're under suspicion of crimes against humans, prohibited from entering the the ningenkai for this reason. State your purpose here, then I'll escort you back to Reikai once you are in my custody."

The demon laughed, a low baritone sound that resonated against the trees and even shook some of the leaves loose. "Look at the little human wanna-be. Are ya gonna try and stop me from bein' here?"

Anko sighed lowly in agitation and glared at the demon. "If I have to, I'll drag you back in pieces. My boss wasn't too specific on whether you were worth more alive or dead."

The demon chuckled again and advanced toward Anko, a full 8 feet with blotchy red skin and a massive underbite complete with overgrown lower canines. He was muscular, and even came with a poison barbed tail. He was the standard issue low-class demon that always thought they were stronger than they were. "You think you can fight me, little human girl? Go ahead and take your best shot."

Anko cocked her head to one side and said plainly, " You aren't too bright, are you?" Her voice became an inhuman hiss as she tried once again to end the conflict peacefully. "I'm no ordinary human."

The demon's eyes widened a fraction of an inch as he stared at Anko with new understanding, but it didn't keep him from being cocky. "I'm not scared of some half-human mutt that got loose in the ningenkai and is trying to curry favor with the underworld. Go ahead an try your best attack. No way it will be enough for me, a full blooded demon!"

Anko shook her head as she raised her right hand, it instantly becoming consumed in black-blue flames. Flames that seemed to make her necklace glow more darkly with the potent blackness. "Dragons can out-do demons any day of the week, moron. Especially my particular species. Why do you think Reikai keeps us under such scrutiny to make sure we don't get loose?"

She gazed at the flames of her hand for a few seconds, before gazing up at Manzo. "Even a lowly hybrid like me, though unworthy to even live, can take you on easily enough. You have 3 chances to tell me why I shouldn't kill you."

The demon stared at Anko like she had grown another head as he took a step back. He knew that if he tried a head on assault on the hybrid, he would probably be burned by the strange fire she held. "One chance gone." Anko murmured, the fire growing darker if possible.

"Wait... why do you have to bring me back?" The demon asked, trying to buy some time.

"Two chances."

The demon's tail suddenly sprang for Anko, the barbed tip narrowly missing her thigh as she jumped out of the way. "Three strikes. Good-bye Manzo."

She didn't waste the movement of dodging to the side, practically catapulting herself towards him with her glowing fist raised. The demon flinched, thinking she was going to tackle him, but she stopped short and delievered a punch to his chest, using enough force to knock him completely off of his feet and into a near-by tree.

Anko was already back in a fighting pose, feet spaced evenly apart and her fists brought up so she could guard her face and upper body. Her strange aura seemed to glow for a second as she released some of her energy. It wasn't a full transformation, not by a long shot, but it allowed her to release some of the energy that had been building up in her body.

"What's wrong? Is the big he-man demon going to get his ass kicked by a human hybrid?" Anko growled. "Get up already."

The demon groaned slightly as he sat up, but he quickly glared at Anko as his skin changed from blotchy red to transparent, like he was an overgrown chameleon blending into the background.

"Oh, puh-leeze. You think one little color shift-" Anko's eyes scanned the landscape, locking onto a spot near a bush, "is going to be enough?" She took a step forward, only to have her foot yanked out from under her.

Manzo reappeared behind her, his normal red skin getting darker. "Decoys are a wonderful thing, don't you agree?" He taunted, holding Anko upside down while she kept her skirt from going over her head and exposing areas that shouldn't be exposed. There was a subtle change in her mannerism that made it look almost like she had expected it.

Manzo shifted his weight and flung her through the stand of bushes that Yusuke and Kuwabara were hiding behind. They had just enough time to duck out of the way and find a new hiding place as Anko struck a tree. Hard.

She hissed as she fell down, coughing slightly as all of the wind had been knocked out of her. The flames only flared more brightly as she looked up at the demon, glaring daggers at him. "Finally got the real one." Anko lunged up, ignoring her burning lungs as she went to attack her target.

Manzo took a surprised step back, but it wasn't quick enough to dodge out of Anko's angry right hook with the ever burning flames of Darkness engulfing her fist. Manzo fell back from the combined impact of her punch and tackle, out as soon as he hit the floor. Anko rode his body to the ground, before jumping back and landing in a kneeled position, flicking her right hand as the flames vanished.

She tried to stand, but ended up on the ground again as she tried to recover her air capacity.

"You... guys can come... out now..." Anko said tonelessly as she panted, still kneeling next to the unconcious body.

Yusuke and Kuwabara looked at one another nervously before looking back out at Anko in the clearing. They didn't know if they should have gone and pretended they hadn't been spying on her, or if they should just have owned up to what they did.

Anko didn't give them too long to think about it, because she was already striding over to the place they were hiding in the bushes. She pulled a handful of bushes to the side and stared at them, no emotion crossing over into her face.

"Oh... Anko! What a coincidence..." Yusuke started, trying to attempt a half-assed lie.

"I know you've been following me since the edge of the forest. Care to explain why?"

Yusuke and Kuwabara stared at her for a moment; so they had been right in assuming that Anko had noticed them.

"Well, we didn't exactly think we'd see you her in the ningenkai..." Yusuke murmured, scratching his head. "And then you showed up at our school and claimed you didn't know me... Kinda suspicious huh?"

Anko cocked her head to the side and blinked. "It would have been even more suspicious if your classmates thought we knew eachother. But, I see why you were suspicious of me." She reached into her pocket and fished out the cell phone, flipping it open and turning away from the boys.

"It's done. Send someone else for drop off, I'm heading to the temple." She said simply, crossing her free arm over her stomach. "He followed me here. Do you want to talk with him?"

After a second, she nodded and tossed the phone over her shoulder towards the two, Yusuke completely dropping the phone while Kuwabara caught it inches above the ground. "Nice catch..." Yusuke mumbled.

"It's for Yusuke; I'll be resting when he wants to ask questions." Anko said, walking past the fallen demon to a tree on the opposite side of the clearing.

"Uh... who is this?" Yusuke asked hesitantly after he got the phone from Kuwabara.

"It's me, Koenma, ya lead head!" Koenma shouted into the phone. "Who else would it be!"

"Pacifier Breath! I wasn't expecting to talk to you-" Yusuke stopped after a second before shouting, "Wait a second, why the hell does she get a cell phone and I get the girly compact mirror!"

"Because she's the newest spirit detective and your ally, and we just happened to get the cell phones so I thought she'd like to use one." Koenma replied, sounding just as agitated.

"What?" Yusuke asked, his tone dropping into surprise.

"Anko is serving as another Spirit Detective in the ningenkai. Until she can prove herself, she'll get the mundane cases that otherwise you would have to handle." Koenma said, his voice lightening. "Ask her any questions you like regarding it; I have work to do. Bye Yusuke!" Koenma hung up the phone, leaving a bewildered Yusuke to stare at the phone in surprise.

"So what he say, Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked excitedly.

Yusuke ignored him and instead went to where Anko was leaning against a tree. "What the hell did he mean that you're a spirit detective?" He hissed at her, clearly confused.

Anko opened her golden eye and watched him with it for a few heartbeats. "Exactly what you think he meant; I am a newly appointed spirit world detective."

Yusuke glared at her. "So how did this come up anyways! The last time I saw you, you couldn't stand much less be any good for me or even Kuwabara!"

"What do ya mean Urameshi?" Kuwabara barked at him. "I can take care of myself!"

"It's recompense for past sins." Anko said simply, watching the two with both of her eyes. "One of the terms of my punishment."

"Punishment?" Yusuke asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Oh, I mean probation." Anko corrected emotionlessly. "There are three major conditions for my probation." She stood away from the tree and turned, heading back for the forest path. "I'll explain on the way back to where I have been assigned to live. It's not far; just a few miles down the path."

"Tck. Not far, she says." Yusuke imitated loudly. "Whatever. Let's get this little hike over and done with. I want to find out what the 'conditions' are anyways."

Anko glanced back at him and Kuwabara and nodded. "I knew you would want to know, considering that two of the three conditions apply to you."

Anko looked straight ahead again, making the group walk in a tense silence that didn't bother Anko at all.

"Would you just spill it already!" Yusuke shouted, shattering the serene setting and forcing dozens of birds to leap off of their perches in fright. Kuwabara even jumped at his sudden outburst.

"The first condition," Anko began, unmoved by his sudden shout, "is that I must help the spirit detective and his partners as much as I am able. Meaning, I have to become one however unwilling."

She drew in a deep breath and continued. "The second condition requires me to enroll at your school so you can monitor my interactions with normal humans and possibly prevent me from massacrering the students if and when I go berserk." Kuwabara shuddered at this, listening to the cold monotone that was Anko's voice. She was talking about killing like you would the weather, and it bothered him.

"The final condition..." Anko started to say as they reached some familiar steps leading into a temple, "I have to live with an old psychic, who will also make sure I don't get into trouble."

"Wait.. you don't mean-" Yusuke started to say loudly.

"Master Genkai." Anko responded tonelessly, easily making her way up the stairs.

"But! How? When!" Yusuke hissed as he caught up with her.

"I wouldn't know; Koenma only told me to live here and to not get into anymore trouble." Anko said, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. "Hn?"

"I know the hag-"

"The great dimwit finally decides to pay his old master a visit." Genkai muttered as she watched the three of them come up the stairs to her temple. "Not for training, I'm sure."

"Aw, shut up you old lady!" Yusuke shouted back at her.

Anko looked from him to her old care-taker with a look of surprise. "Do you know eachother?" She asked, a barely noticeable lilt on the end of her sentence turning it into a sentence.

"She was my old teacher." Yusuke grumbled, still glaring up at her. Anko could easily read the looks in their eyes that showed they cared about eachother despite the tones in their voices or the words that they spoke to one another.

Anko nodded and sped up, reaching Genkai before Yusuke did.

"Koenma already told me what happened." Genkai said as she looked up at her. Anko nodded and bowed slightly, showing Genkai her due respect.

"If you don't mind Master Genkai, I will be off. You know how to reach me."

Genkai nodded as Anko bowed slightly again, walking off through the temple grounds on her own.

...ooo...

Anko slipped off away from the temple and wandered throughout the forest, finally getting to Tokyo a few hours before dark.

She stopped off at her school and gathered her things, explaining to her teacher that she had had a family emergency and had been forced to leave immeadiately.

The teacher, although angry at first that she had skipped out on his class, finally gave her her missed work and told her 'not to let it happen again'.

"Thanks." Anko said as she shouldered her bag and walked out. The sun started to set as Anko walked silently with her backpack over one shoulder, following the setting sun. For some reason, she felt best when it was between night and day; almost like she was in her element.

The sun was almost completely down as Anko followed it into a park in the middle of town.

Almost as soon as she set foot in the park, she felt odd. Almost like she was being attracted to something that felt so familiar, yet so unlike anything she had felt before that it was surreal.

She looked around, hesitantly stepping forward and moving farther and farther into the forest. It was almost like there was something calling her, and she could do nothing but try and figure out what - or who - was calling her like this...

...ooo End of Chapter 4 ooo...


End file.
